18853 Public Lectures 



the people of Indiana realize that the State Uni- VaUe of 

 versity belonged to them. Accordingly I soon pre- ^'^''^^ 

 pared a lecture on the "Value of Higher Education" 

 which I gave at teachers' institutes and before high 

 schools in practically all the ninety-two counties of 

 the state. I thus developed for the University a 

 kind of intellectual leadership which brought many 

 of the finest types of young men and young women 

 to its doors. 



In connection with my talks, I also put forth every Making 

 legitimate effort to secure influence in the legis- /"^'^^^ 

 lature, not by presence in the lobby at Indian- 

 apolis but by friendly acquaintance beforehand with 

 rising young lawyers and others likely to be chosen 

 to direct state affairs. In this I was unquestionably 

 successful, making friends in both parties and in 

 every town by the simple means of interesting people 

 in what I was trying to do. 



We were, nevertheless, distinctly handicapped 

 by our location, for Bloomington, then a small 

 town, lies (as I have said) in a district of thin red 

 soil just south of the line of glacial drift which 

 overlies and enriches the northern portion of the 

 state. Railroad connections were not good, and re- 

 lations with Indianapolis, the center of the state in- 

 tellectually, politically, and financially, were by no 

 means satisfactory. With the continuing expan- Growth of 

 sion of the University and of Bloomington's in- ("^?'^"^ 



, , . -^ P , . .... ,. ^ r University 



dustry, the quarrymg or white oolite limestone tor 

 building, conditions have greatly improved, and the 

 institution now holds the position it deserves as 

 the source and center of Indiana scholarship, having 

 at present an enrollment of nearly 3800 students. 

 For many years, however, its influence had been 



n 299 3 



